In a first, Indian doctors repair leaking valve without opening the heart
For the first time in India, a team of doctors at Delhi Fortis Escorts Heart Institute has performed the catheter-based procedure of MitraClip to repair a leaking heart valve without surgery.
Mitral valve is the valve connecting two chambers of the left side of the heart that receives impure blood from all over the body and then sends it ahead to the lungs for purification. A leaking mitral valve affects nearly 10% of the population who have coronary artery disease, heart attacks or bypass surgery and continues to increase with age. The continuously leaking valves put pressure on the heart causing breathlessness.
If left untreated, it leads to enlargement of the heart, heart failure and death. These patients are either at a high risk for valve surgery or do not benefit from it.
The 69-year-old patient was suffering from repeated heart failure. He had undergone a bypass surgery 13-years ago. Of late, his heart had been getting enlarged due to a severely leaking valve leading to breathlessness and heart failure. In his condition, open heart surgery was not possible. Till the date, open heart surgery with repair or replacement of the valve was the only treatment option for such patients in India, said the hospital authorities.
Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute said, “The MitraClip is a novel catheter-based non-surgical repair of the mitral valve inside the heart and is performed in the Cath Lab like angioplasty. Special catheters are inserted through the large vein in the groin and the catheter is passed from the right chamber of the heart to the left chamber of the heart by puncturing the partition called interatrial septum. Then under echocardiography and X-ray guidance, a clip is put on the leaking mitral valve to decrease the leak which improves the condition of the patient. The patient is normally ready to be discharged in 24-48 hours’ time.”
Source: https://medibulletin.com/first-time-in-india-fortis-docs-repair-leaking-heart-valve-without-surgery/
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-doctors-repair-leaking-valve-without-opening-heart/articleshow/66820332.cms